Tenpointfive all the way as Wiggins falls short

STICKNEY, Ill. - Wiggins, the bettors decided, was virtually unbeatable in the High Alexander Stakes. Based at Churchill Downs with trainer Dale Romans, Wiggins had come to Chicago twice in the last year for Illinois-bred stakes at Hawthorne, and left both times with runaway victories.

But Saturday at Hawthorne, saddled with a difficult outside post that led to a wide trip around the first turn, Wiggins went down, rallying late but unable to reach the longshot Tenpointfive, who ran the race of his life to win the $96,275 High Alexander, one of six Illinois-bred stakes races on the card.

If wasn't just that Tenpointfive was totally unproven in stakes company, but Tenpointfive looked like a turf horse. He had gotten quite good this past summer on the Arlington turf course, but his dirt record before Saturday showed 1 win in 12 tries.

Under veteran rider Jerry LaSala - capable, but hardly a leading Chicago jock - Tenpointfive sprinted out to a clear early lead, and with a half-mile in a testing 47.19 seconds, he seemed to be going too fast. But Tenpointfive hardly slowed. LaSala let him open up at the top of the stretch, and Tenpointfive had enough left to hold clear Wiggins by one length.

"I just hung on, and he did all the work," said LaSala.

Trained by Mike Reavis for owner Gregory Fraterrigo, Tenpointfive paid $45.60 to win, running 1 1/16 miles on a good track in 1:44.82. Wiggins, the 3-5 favorite, seemed to find his best stride only in the final half-furlong, and finished 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Tally Up.

Sun Power: Caruso still unbeaten

Richard Hazelton has had plenty of hot 2-year-olds during his four-plus decades training racehorses. He thinks Caruso is one of the best of recent seasons.

Caruso romped against maidens in his Arlington Park debut, blew out stakes horses at Fairmount Park, and ran his record to 3 for 3 with perhaps his best win yet, a 3 3/4-length victory over previously unbeaten Chillin Villain in the $93,568 Sun Power Stakes.

Caruso ($5.80) and Chillin Villain, the two favorites, outbroke the other eight Sun Power 2-year-olds, and staged their own little battle for most of the six furlongs. Chillin Villain had come from off the pace when he beat open entry-level allowance horses here Oct. 5, but with an inside draw and a sharp break, jockey Chris Emigh had little choice but to let his mount run up to the front. Caruso, with Carlos Silva up, relaxed off Chillin Villain's flank through fast, wind-aided pace: 21.59 seconds for the quarter-mile, 45.68 for the half. And at the top of the stretch, when Silva offered a slight suggestion that Caruso get down to business, the colt took off. He collared Chillin Villain, pushed past, and even though Chillin Villain fought back, Caruso pulled away and was stretching his lead at the finish. He was timed in 1:11.13, just .06 of a second slower than the older horse Out for a Spin ran winning the Lightning Jet, and faster than 4-year-old Pretty Jenny's time in the Powerless.

"He's a good colt," said Hazelton, who will run Caruso back next month in the Jim Edgar Futurity, "probably as good as I've had recently."

Powerless: Pretty Jenny wires

Christine Janks has pretty much settled in at her winter base in Florida, but she had plenty of reason to come to Hawthorne on Saturday. Janks had four live horses in the six-race stakes sequence here, and went home with two wins and two seconds.

Pretty Jenny was especially impressive in the $112,825 Powerless, winning her third straight race and ninth in 15 career starts. At Hawthorne, Pretty Jenny has gone 4ofor 6, and Emigh wasted no time putting his horse on the lead. Pretty Jenny ($3.60) had opened a clear lead 50 yards out of the gate, getting her opening quarter in 22.20 seconds. Taylor Madison applied some pressure around the turn, but Pretty Jenny opened up again at the top of the stretch and drew away late, drawing off to win by four lengths, running six furlongs in 1:11.31. The longshot Trout River Red closed for second, with Storm Rolling In third. Second-choice Bluesbdancing never was a factor, checking in seventh of eight.

Lightning Jet: Out for a Spin hangs on

The heavily favored High Expectations, trained by Janks, saved ground, got through in the stretch without trouble, and had dead aim on the leaders in the $85,875 Lightning Jet - but he could not catch longshot Out for a Spin, who held on by three-quarters of a length.

Trainer Greg Geier and the J S Cubed Stable claimed Out for a Spin for $25,000 on Aug. 16. Out for a Spin ($34.40) won a $25,000 claimer in his first start for the new connections - and did much better than that in the Lightning Jet, earning $51,525 for his victory. High Expectations was three lengths better than Alabama Clay, who had trouble at the start.

* Emigh made it three wins in the day's first four stakes with a victory aboard heavily favored Stop a Train in the $89,550 Illini Princess. Stop a Train, making her Illinois-bred stakes debut, had finished third in a Keeneland allowance race last month, but was 4-5 to beat six rivals in the 1 1/16-mile Illini Princess. It wasn't a thing of beauty - Emigh was pushing on her a quarter-mile from the finish - but Stop a Train ($3.80) got the job done.

* Magnetic Miss needed the entire stretch to wear down pacesetting Rich N Clever in the $94,800 Showtime Deb Stakes, but with a last push, favored Magnetic Miss ($5.60) got there by a neck, giving Emigh still another stakes win, and sending trainer Spanky Broussard into the winner's circle.